Separator



H. T. BLOM SEPARATOR sept. 2s, 1937.

Filed Aug. 5,` 1955 Patented Sept. Y28, 1937 UNITED STATES atmetSEPARATOR Hjalrnar T. Blom, Michigan City, Ind., assignor to SullivanMachinery Company, a corporation of Massachusetts Application August 5,1935, Serial No. 34,712

14 Claims.

My invention relates to separating devices, and, more particularly, toseparating devices for the separation of moisture from air lines, steamlines, and the like.

It is highly desirable that air compressors raising the pressure of airthrough a substantial pressure range should separate out the moisturefrom the compressed air, and after-cooling devices are accordinglyfrequently provided, with a result that much of the entrained moisturemay be condensed or formed into a mist such that by appropriatetreatment it may be separated from the air.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved separatingdevice. It is another object of my invention to provide an improvedseparating device for separating moisture from owing air. It is afurther object of my invention to provide an improved separating deviceapplicable to substantially any problem of separating liquid from aflowing stream of gases or vapors. It is a further object of myinvention to provide an improved separating device which willeffectually remove moisture from air leaving an after-cooler. Otherobjects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter more fullyappear.

In the accompanying drawing, in vwhich for purposes of illustration oneembodiment which the invention may assume in practice has been shown,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a separating device.

Fig. 2 is a section on a plane corresponding to the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on planes corresponding to the lines 3-3of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section on the plane of the line Li-l of Fig. 2through a nozzle device.

Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing, I represents a delivery pipe, as, for example, thedelivery pipe from an aftercooler, through which a mixture of a gas orvapor and a liquid, either in drop or mist form, enters the separatorvdevice 2. The separator device comprises a shell 3, herein cylindricalin cross section and provided with a discharge opening 4, herein formedin the side wall thereof and near one end thereof, said dischargeopening provided with a suitable connection 5 whereby an attachment maybe made, as at 6, to a discharge line 'I. In the illustrative embodimentof the invention the separator is arranged in an upright position, andthe discharge opening is near the upper end thereof. The bottom of theshell 3 is closed by `a plate 8 supported by a rim 9, and the top of(Cl. 18S-92) the casing is provided with an annular member I D, hereinwelded thereto and supporting a baillechamber-forming member II whichextends downwardly within the chamber I2 of the shell 3. ThebaiTIe-chamber-forming member II is 5 provided with a bottom I4 and isgenerally circular in cross section and is suitably supported, as bywelding, to the member Iii. Within the interior I5 of the member IIthere are arranged a series of upright baille devices It, each in theform of a thin strip secured, as by welding, to the interior of themember II. Discharge orices I'I open through the'side wall of the memberII near the lower end thereof. Member II is preferably eccentric tocasing 3.

An upper plate or cover plate I8, to which the connection I is suitablysecured, as at I9, is held in any suitable manner, as by bolts Z, to themember I0 and carries within the chamber I5 a nozzle device 2i which isdesigned to impart a whirling motion to the entering material. Thenozzle device 2l comprises an inwardly extending truste-conical hollowportion 22 whose bottom is reversely directed, as at 23, so as toprovide a generally conical inward projection and so promote a uniformdistribution of the entering material circumferentially of the member;2|. The apex 24 of the inwardly directed distributing cone 23 is inalinement with an opening 25 in the member I8 and with the deliveryconnection I. The peripheral wall of the member 2I is provided with aseries of spirally extending, expanding passages 26 which are designedto impart a whirling motion to the entering material. The member 2| isso proportioned as to provide .as high velocity as possible without anexcessive'drop of pressure.

The direction of the whirling action imparted by the 4device 2l thedisposition of the baie elements It and the location of the dischargeoriflces II bear a definite optimum relation to each other. For example,assumingthat the whirling motion imparted by the nozzle passages 26 isclockwise, looking down upon the apparatus, the

baiiie devices I6, instead of being at right angles to tangents to thewhirling body of material within the chamber I5, should be inclinedslightly against the travel of this material; and the discharge orificesIl' should each lie behind a bale I6. Through the bottom I4 of thedevice II there is provided, moreover, forwardly of each baffle I6, adischarge opening 21 through which the sepa rated material, e. g.,liquid, may pass into the bottom of the chamber I2, from which itescapes through a further connection 28. The baffle de- 55 vices do notextend as high within the chamber I5 as the bottom of the nozzle device2|.

The mode of operation of the illustrative embodiment shown and describedwill now be obvious. Material, for example, water-bearing air, willenter, through the connection I and the opening 25, the interior of thenozzle device 2| and will there be smoothly and evenly distributed tothe various passages 26, which will impart a whirling motion at a highvelocity to the entering material. of the baiTles I6 this whirlingmotion may be thoroughly established before the bafiies are encountered,and the liquid carried with the air stream will have opportunity, due toits greater weight and the effect of centrifugal force, to reach theperiphery of. the chamber I5 before the baiiles are encountered. As thecontents of the chamber I5 encounter the baiiles, the liquid will beseparated from the air by the bales and will ow down along the forwardsides of the latter to the discharge openings 2'I, any tendency to becarried oi of the baiiles by the continued whirling of the air beingovercome by a forward inclination of the baille strips. The whirling airwill escape through the orices I'I behind the baffle strips, theseorices being located in such a manmer as to insure their receiving aminimum of air which has not engaged a baiile. As the air passes outthrough the openings I'I, it will enter a passage whose size increasesfrom a point opposite opening 4 towards said opening, and in thispassage it encounters the inner Wall of the shell 3 as well as the outerwall of I I and has to flow from near the lower end of the shell up tothe upper end of the latter, and the wall friction and the reversal ofdirection of ilow will further tend to separate out remaining moisturefrom the air. The liquid discharged through the openings 21 and thatwhich is separated out in the space I2 between the outside of the deviceII and the inner Wall of the shell 3 and flows down along the inner wallof the shell, will pass out through the discharge connection 28.

It will be evident from the description given that I have provided asimple, inexpensive, eilicient and very durable separating device, thatit can be made with a minimum of machining operation, and that it takesadvantage of the cumulative effects of centrifugal force, baiiling, andwall friction for separating entrained moisture from the air.

While there is in this application specifically described one form whichthe invention may assume inv practice, it will be understood that thisform of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that theinvention may be modified and embodied in various other forms withoutdeparting from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and providing means forimparting a whirling motion to material emerging from said nozzle,baille means in said chamber-forming member disposed for lmpingement bymaterial in such whirling motion, means for establishing communicationbetween the interior of said chamberforming member and the space betweensaid chamber-forming member and said shell, and discharge means forseparated material.

Due to the space above the topsv 2. In a separator, a shell having adischarge opening therefrom at one end thereof, a chamber-forming memberwithin said shell, a nozzle device within said chamber-forming memberhaving an inlet opening and disposed at the end of said chamber-formingmember nearer the discharge opening from the shell, baiile means in saidchamber-forming member, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-forming member and said shell, said communication-establishingmeans arranged at that end of said chamber-forming member remote fromsaid nozzle device, and discharge means for separated material.

3. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom arrangedin the side thereof, a chamber-forming member within said shell disposedeccentrically within the latter, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening, baffle means in saidchamber-forming member, means for establishing a communication betweenthe interior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-forming member and said shell including an opening in the wallof said chamberforming member at the side of the latter remote vfrom thedischarge opening in the shell, and discharge means forV separatedmaterial.

Ll. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member Within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and having provision foreffecting a Whirling of the material passing therethrough about the axisof the chamber-forming member, baille means in said chamber-formingmember extending parallel to the axis of the chamber in saidchamber-forming member in position for impingement by material whirledby said nozzle device, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamberforming member and said shell, and discharge means for separatedmaterial.

5. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle device Within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and having provision foreffecting a whirling of the material passing therethrough about the axisof the chamber-forming member, barile means in said chamber-formingmember extending parallel to the axis of the chamber in saidchamber-forming member, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-forming member and said shell, said communieation-establishingmeans arranged behind, With reference to the direction of materialcirculation in the chamber, said bailleforming means, and dischargemeans for separated material.

6. In a separator, a shell having a discharge between saidchamber-forming member and said shell, and discharge means for separatedmaterial including openings in said chamber-forming member at the endsof said baiie strips.

7. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member Within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and having provision foreffecting a whirling motion of the material passing therethrough, baillemeans in said chamber-forming member including baffle strips extendinglongitudinally of the chamber-forming member and terminating short ofsaid nozzle device, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-forming member and said shell, and discharge means for separatedmaterial including openings in said chamber-forming member at the endsof said baille strips.

8. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and having provision foreffecting a whirling motion of the material passing therethrough, baillemeans in said chamber-forming member including baiile strips extendinglongitudinally of the chamber-forming member and terminating short ofsaid nozzle device, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-formlng member and said shell, and discharge means for separatedmaterial including openings in said chamber-forming member at the endsof said baille strips at the sides of the latter first reached by thewhirling chamber contents.

9. In a separator device, an outer shell having a discharge opening nearone end thereof, a longitudinally extending baflle-chamber-formingdevice eccentrically disposed in said shell whereby the maximum spacebetween the walls of said device and said shell is adjacent saiddischarge opening, a spiral-flow-producing nozzle member arranged in theend of said baiechamber-forming device nearer said discharge opening,baies Within said device extending 1ongitudinally thereof, openings forthe escape from said device of separated material arranged at theforward sides of said baffles, discharge orifices opening through thewalls of said device behind said bales, and a discharge orifice for theseparated material opening from the interior of said shell at the endthereof remote from said discharge opening.

10. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle within saidchamberforming member having an inlet opening and providing passages foreiecting a whirling of material entering said chamber-forming memberabout the axis of the latter, baffle means in said chamber-formingmember projecting inwardly from the wall thereof and extending generallylongitudinally thereof, means for establishing communication between theinterior of said chamber-forming member and the space between saidchamber-forming member and said shell including openings partiallyshielded by said baiile means as the material whirls in saidchamber-forming member, and discharge means for separated material.

11. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member Within said shell, a nozzle device having aninlet opening and arranged to deliver material with a whirling motioninto the interior of said chamber-forming member, bafe means in saidchamber-forming member projecting inwardly from the inner wall of thelatter, and means for establishing communication b etween the interiorof said chamber-forming member and the space between the latter and saidshell and for discharging separated material from said chamberformingmember respectively arranged at opposite sides, in terms of direction ofmaterial travel in said chamber-forming member, of said baffle means.

12. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefromarranged in the side thereof, a chamber-forming member within said shelldisposed eccentrically within the latter, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening, baffle means in saidchamber-forming member, discharge means for separated material, andmeans for establishing communication between the interior of saidchamber-forming member and the space between the latter and said shellincluding openings arranged symmetrically around the periphery of saidchamber-forming member and including an opening at the side of saidchamber-forming member remote from the discharge opening in the shell.

13. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening and also having provisionfor effecting a whirling of material passing therethrough about the axisof the chamber-forming member, inwardly projecting baille means in saidchamberforming member extending generally longitudinally of the latteralong the inner wall thereof, means for establishing communicationbetween the interior of the chamber-forming member and the space betweenthe latter and the shell, and discharge means for separated material atthe side of said baffle means rst reached by whirling material in saidchamber-forming member.

14. In a separator, a shell having a discharge opening therefrom, achamber-forming member within said shell, a nozzle device within saidchamber-forming member having an inlet opening, bale means in saidchamber-forming member disposed in a longitudinally different trans-Vverse zone of said chamber-forming member from said nozzle device, meansfor establishing communication between the interior of saidchamber-forming member and the space between said chamber-forming memberand said shell, and discharge means for separated material.

HJALMAR T. BLOM.

